Tips to Prevent Theft of Bicycles
1. Note the BRAND, MODEL, COLOR and SERIAL NUMBER of each bike in your home. Write this information on the owner’s manual or the Operation Identification Inventory Sheet (see Operation Identification in the Crime Prevention Home Page below) and keep it in a file for easy retrieval. The SERIAL NUMBER is usually stamped on the bottom of the bike where the pedals meet. On some Huffy bikes, the serial number is stamped on the side of the front forks.
2. Take a picture of the bike to help identify it later.
3. Make the bike unique. Put your’s or the child’s name and phone number somewhere on the bike. If found, most people will contact the owner directly. If you don’t want your phone number on the bike, add something unique to the bike to make it stand out from all the other bikes. A unique sticker, a first name license plate or even a certain color of cloth wrapped around the seat stem. (Many people do this with luggage to help them identify it at an airport). Remember, Wal-Mart and Target sell hundreds of boy’s blue NEXT bikes a year. Help the Police Department distinguish yours from the others.
4. Register your bike with the Gilbert Police Department Crime Prevention. Contact Gilbert Crime Prevention for more information at (480) 503-6527.
5. Always store bikes in a secure place – not laying around in the front yard! Keep bikes in fenced back yards or in the garage. Keep the gates locked and garage doors down.
6. Use a lock and chain to lock bikes when not at home. Many bikes are taken at parks and convenient stores simply because they are left unattended and unlocked. Often times, these bikes are dumped only a few blocks away from where they were taken.
What to do if Your Bike is Missing
|Other Tips for Protecting Valuables